You Found Me
by KatoKori
Summary: Her bright green eyes stared into his icy blue, whispering “It can’t be you…” DeiSaku. Rated T to be safe. Mild cursing later on. Full Summary inside
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction, and I hope I don't do too terribly! I've had this idea stuck in my head for a while, and I just had to let it out. I tried to be original, and I'm very sorry if this has already been done! I might not update extremely frequently, but I will try. Anyways, enjoy the fic, don't flame too much, and if you'd like, you can tell me if you have any idea's for this story! I already know the basics of where this is going, but ideas could certainly help if I can fit them into the story. Oh, and constructive criticism is always good, and I don't mind flamers, not everyone can like a story right? Thanks!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This applies to the entire fanfiction.**

Full Summary: Her green eyes stared into his blue, whispering "It can't be you…" When Deidara and Sakura were children, during the chuunin exams they meet, and become the best of friends. What happens when years later during the rescue Gaara mission, they meet again?

"Speaking"

'_thoughts'_

_'**inner sakura'**_

.:*:. – break

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

**Chapter: 1**

Deidara was bored. He at surveyed his surroundings, seeing nothing interesting, just trees, his classmates, more trees, elite ninja, trees… Oh, and did he mention trees? The children just ahead of him chatted away, ignoring him completely. Not that he cared, he preferred to stay as far away from those idiots as he possibly could, and they had no intention of letting him join in the conversation. He had more of a chance of talking with ANBU ninja that protected and surrounded them than with his peers.

They had been walking for three days now, and Deidara wanted nothing more than to finally be in their destination, the Leaf Village. His entire journey consisted of staring at the surrounding forest, bored out of his mind, having to listen to the conversation of his classmates ahead of him.

"Did you hear about Umi? She-"

Deidara tuned out immediately. All they talked about was gossip and boys. He longed for conversation that didn't revolve around how hot he or she was, or what that scandalous girl did, but none of them could ever offer it to him. Even if they talk without boring him to death, they would most likely ignore him for the favour of others. His hands could be thanked for that.

He looked down at them, bringing his arms up and staring at his palms, and they did nothing but smile back at him. He couldn't figure out how they were useful to him, other than being able to create works of art with almost no effort.

Deidara sighed and lowered his hands. '_Oh well,'_ He told himself. '_one day I will find a use for them, something that will make them wish that they didn't treat me like garbage.'_ He smirked at that thought. Deidara longed for the day that he could prove everyone wrong. That he was worth something, and to show them all that he wasn't just dirt on their shoes.

He sighed again, and shoved his hands into his pockets, remembering how he was stuck in this mess in the first place.

The chuunin exams were happening again in Konoha, the leaf village. Because Iwa, his village, and Konoha still weren't on the best of terms, the Tsuchikage decided to, to gain the trust of the Hokage, select five of the top students in the ninja academy to travel with the aspiring chuunin's to the chuunin exams.

Deidara was one of those top five. In fact, he was number one of those five.

Now, Deidara couldn't say he wasn't excited to go to Konoha. No, far from it actually. He was extremely excited to see the village, the sites, the people, the food… Not that he would ever tell anyone of course. Being only nine years old, Deidara had never been anywhere but his home, the Earth country.

So, Deidara kept walking. After all, there were only a day or two more of travel and then at last they would be in the village hidden in the leaves.

.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.

As soon as the gates of Konoha came into view, Deidara could barely contain his excitement. Barely. On the inside, he was practically leaping for joy. Externally, it was shown by the smirk on his face and the slight bounce to his step.

They would be at the gates of Konoha in about fifteen minutes, and every minute Deidara considered torture. He was sick of doing nothing but staring at the surrounding trees, he wanted some excitement.

The next fifteen minutes practically crawled by, and when they were finally at the gigantic gates of Konoha, Deidara's eyes were huge in awe and excitement, and a huge smile was on his face. After all, he was still only a child.

'_Wow,'_ He thought, _'I've never seen anything this tall before, yeah, other than the mountains at home of course, but always at a distance… This is amazing, yeah!'_

The lead ANBU ninja spoke with the gatekeeper, and they were let in, and another ANBU escorted them to their hotel.

"Please do not start any fights, and abide by our rules while you are here." Stated the ANBU politely. "You are not allowed to leave the walls of the village, however you may wander the city as much as you like. All of the meals you eat here are free, just show them this-" He held up what looked like an orange bracelet, "and you will be able to eat anywhere you like. Enjoy your stay." The ANBU bowed and promptly left after giving each of them a bright orange bracelet.

"You heard him. Set up your room and such, and then you have permission to leave the building and wander as you see fit. However," He took up a menacing tone, "if I hear of even the _slightest _bit of trouble from _any_ of you, you _will_ regret it. You have no idea the amount of trouble you'll be in if you start anything." He turned his head around the room, and Deidara thought that that was his way of glaring at them all, considering they couldn't see his eyes with his ANBU mask on, "You may do what you like now." He said in finality.

Deidara gulped. He sure as hell wasn't going to do anything stupid while he was here; he could only imagine the horrors that would lie in wait for him back in Iwa, or with the ANBU, if he ever even thought of it.

The blonde quickly chose a dark brown walled room with a single bed and dark furniture as his own, unpacked everything into the small dresser and closet, and added a few personal touches to the room, seeing as it would be his for the duration of about six weeks. He added a few of his paintings to the walls, and re-arranged his room to his liking. He surveyed his room, finally satisfied with the layout. He quickly exited the building with his pack filled with money that he had been saving, as well as a few other random things, ready for what may await him.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Sakura raced through the streets of Konoha, as if the devil itself were on her heels. And in her eight year old mind, it was. She smiled as she ran, looking behind her to yell at the two young boys that were chasing her.

"You'll never catch me, Keigo, Haru!" Her face morphed into a playful, mocking one, and she stuck out her tongue.

The two boys looked at each other and smirked, speeding up and racing after the pink-haired girl, laughing as they did so.

Her eyes widened as she saw them catching up to her. _'Darn, I can't let them catch up to me!!'_ She thought frantically, speeding up. She looked over her shoulder to see where the boys were and smirked as she saw they were falling behind. _'**Chyaa!!**' _Shouted inner Sakura. _**'We'll show them!'**_

Her thoughts were immediately cut off as she smacked into something. Hard. Sakura realised then that it was not a good idea to run at full speed through the streets of Konoha and not watch where she was going, especially in the crowded areas. Luckily whatever she had smashed into had fallen over with her, and she landed on something soft, yet hard _'That makes NO sense. But it's true.'_ She thought, as she painfully lifted herself up, pushing down on whatever she landed on with her hands.

"Ow, that hurts yeah!"

She froze, her eyes widening when she heard the voice of what sounded like a young boy. Quickly, she looked down to where the voice was coming from, and frowned when she say light blue eyes staring at her, amused.

"Ahh! Gomen! I didn't mean to run into you!" She nearly shouted, "Here, let me help you up."

The boy with honey blonde hair and blue eyes smirked at her and grabbed her offered hand, pulling himself off the ground. He dusted himself off with his hands as Sakura watched him.

"Maybe you should watch where you are going next time, yeah." He huffed.

"Umm, sorry about that," She laughed, embarrassed, "I was too caught up in a game of tag that me and a couple of my friends were playing." She looked around, and saw that Keigo and Haru had finally caught up to them.

"Hey, you should watch where you are going next time Sakura." Laughed Keigo.

"Yea, you wouldn't want to bowl over a little old lady next time." Giggled Haru, laughing at his own joke.

The two boys high fived at their 'victory', oblivious to the rage of their female friend, not noticing until it was too late.

Sakura smashed them both over the head. "You're just jealous that I'm faster then both of you." She smirked as the boys deflated and grumbled, rubbing the painful bumps that her fist had put on their heads. _**'That's right! Never mess with us, chyaa!'** _Inner Sakura yelled in triumph.

Sakura turned to the boy that she had run into, an apologetic look on her face. He was still staring at her, seemingly amused by her anger at the two unfortunate boys.

"It's ok, yeah. I'm Deidara; it's nice to meet you." He smiled at her, and stuck out his hand.

Sakura smiled at the other boy, and grasped his proffered hand, shaking it lightly.

"I'm Sakura. It's nice to –" She was about to take her hand back when something wet pressed up against her palm. _'Is that a _tongue_?!'_ She screeched in her mind, pulling her hand back immediately, staring at her palm.

She heard the boy laughing to himself, and looked up to stare confusedly at him.

She let out a confused, "Was that a _tongue_ I felt?" and watched as he held up his hands to show her that there were mouths on his hands. _Mouths_. She felt her jaw drop as she stared at his hands, awed.

"You have _mouths_ in your hands?" Sakura practically shouted at him.

He looked nervous and almost afraid, as he nodded in answer to her question. Sakura reached over and poked the mouth on his left hand.

"That's so cool!" She exclaimed, grabbing his left hand and inspecting it, excitement written all over her face.

"R-Really?" Deidara asked in disbelief as she tapped on a tooth.

She looked up and stared at him as if he was stupid. "Of course, stupid! It isn't every day that you meet someone with _mouths_ in their hands! They're fascinating."

The nervous grin on his face slowly grew to a full blown smile that reached his eyes. _'Thank you.'_ He thought to himself. She was the first one he has ever met that was his age to be fascinated by his hands. Normally they would look at them and walk away in disgust. Sometimes they'd even run. His inner musings were soon interrupted by the voice of one of Sakura's friends.

"What the heck are those?" A horrified Haru asked, disgust written all over his face. He started backing up, as though he was afraid of Deidara.

"Yeah, are you like a freak or something?" Keigo exclaimed, his expression mirroring the one that his friend wore.

Deidara looked around nervously. This always happened. People were disgusted by the mouths on his hands, and treated him like a freak. He would be lying if he said it didn't hurt, or that he didn't care. Very few people treated him like a human being because of his hands. He said nothing to the two boys, and instead looked at Sakura, wondering what she would say, if anything. She had stopped poking and prodding the mouth on his hand, and her finger was frozen in mid-air. Deidara took this opportunity to get a good look at her. She had short, shockingly pink hair with short bangs that covered her forehead. She had bright, inquisitive green eyes and a button nose. _'She's very pretty.'_ He thought before he could stop himself, and blushed at the thought. She was wearing a loose brown-green t-shirt, with light brown shorts that almost went to her knees. On her feet, she wore dark brown sandals.

His thoughts were cut short when one of the boys, Haru, opened his big mouth again.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing? Get away from him! That guy's a freak! Who has mouths in their hands? Come on, lets go, away from _him_!" Haru practically spat the words, hatred written all over him.

Ouch, that hurt. Deidara winced, and looked over at Sakura, and waited for her to leave him, like all the rest. She was still frozen in place, and he could practically feel the rage radiating off her. He closed his eyes, and waited for her to yell at him, for one reason or another.

He started to turn away, wanting to be gone before they had a chance to say anything else, but was stopped short. Sakura was still holding his hand. Deidara turned to her, shakily opened his eyes, and to his amazement, her rage wasn't directed at him, but to her friends.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked in a scarily sweet voice, scaring the wits out of Haru and Keigo.

"W-Well, Sakura-chan, this guy is obviously a freak, and -"

"No," She cut Haru off, "Deidara is not a freak, or a monster, or anything like that! He is a person, and if you think that he is a freak for something that he cannot control," She lifted up his hand for them to see, "then I don't think I want to be friends with you."

Haru and Keigo looked at her in shock and disbelief, and then in anger.

"Fine," Spat Keigo, "we don't need you." With that, he and Haru glared at them both and walked away.

Sakura sighed and turned to Deidara, who was staring at her with a shocked expression, his eyes wide and his jaw slacked.

"Y-You didn't have to do that, not for me, yeah." He said, shocked by what had just happened. No one had ever defended him like that before. Sure, the teachers at the academy told the kids to stop picking on him, but they didn't really care, and were only doing their job. He didn't have any parents, he never has, and he lived on his own. He always has.

"Yes, I did. I like you," At this Deidara smiled, "and you don't deserve to be treated this way." She said simply.

"But, you barely know me! And those were your friends, yeah!" Deidara told her, extremely confused by her actions. She barely knew him, and yet she was fighting for him against her friends, when by all means she should take their side and shun him as well. While he was confused, he was also glad. It hurt when they called him a freak, and he was used to that. He wasn't, however, used to someone standing up for him, and that made him feel light and happy inside, and he hoped that she would stay.

"Well, if that is what Haru and Keigo really think, then I don't want to be friends with people like them. Besides, they weren't real friends, just some people I play with sometimes." She smiled at him, a smile that reached her eyes. "But I like you, and I think we are going to be really good friends." She squeezed the hand she was still holding.

Deidara stared at her, and a smile lit up his face. Suddenly a strange urge came to him. He decided to roll with it. He jumped on her, and hugged her fiercely.

"Thank you, yeah." He whispered to her.

She was startled at first, but hugged him back. After they pulled away, she took in Deidara's appearance. He had medium length blonde hair that parted on the left side of his face and gave him a mini side bang, and the rest of his hair was up in a high pony tail. His almond shaped eyes were light blue, and while they should have felt cold and icy, they were anything but. He wore a v-neck black t-shirt with a mesh undershirt beneath it. His baggy black pants went to his ankles, and he wore black ninja sandals on his feet.

"Well Deidara, I've never really seen you around before, do you live on the other side of the village or something?" Sakura asked, pushing her free hand, her left, through her hair. Her right hand was currently occupied with his left, and she didn't think she would be getting it back anytime soon. Sakura was surprised, not because he wouldn't let go, but because she felt that she didn't want him to let go, and it was something she wasn't used to.

"I'm not actually from Konoha, yeah. I'm from Iwa. The chuunin exams are here, and the Tsuchikage decided that in good faith to Konoha that five of the top academy students would travel with the genins here, yeah." He said proudly, smiling at her as they walked through the marketplace. "We are here for about a month and a half, and then we head back to Iwa, yeah." That last part of his explanation saddened him, and he got quieter as he talked.

"Oh… Well then, I guess we gotta make the time you're here great then, eh?" Sakura smiled at him, saddened that he wouldn't be here forever, but promising herself that they would have lots of fun during their stay. "I'm also a top student at the academy, now that you mention it," She stated that proudly, standing a little taller, "but this year for the chuunin exams they decided that they needed all the help they could get for the activities, and school is on hold for the next seven weeks or so." She bounced excitedly at that, happy that they got a break from school. "So, that means, we can play together everyday, and I can show you around! What do you say?" She looked towards him hopefully, suddenly afraid that he would reject her, which she knew was stupid, but she couldn't help but feel anyways.

He stared at her in disbelief, not trusting his ears to have heard the right thing. She wants to see him everyday? That can't be right… but then again, she _did_ stand up for him against her friends… So he just opted to stay silent, and stared at her for a few moments.

Sakura was starting to get nervous, he didn't reply, and was just staring at her, the look on his face suggesting he didn't believe her.

"Well? Do you want to or not?" Sakura asked again, this time a little nervous and impatient.

Deidara snapped out of it immediately at those words.

"Yes!" He almost shouted at her, "Of course I would! I'm sorry I just stared, I didn't believe my ears when you said that you actually wanted to play with me every day…" he trailed off near the end, waiting to see what she would say.

She rolled her eyes at him, and hit him lightly on the shoulder, smiling a bit.

"Of course that's what I said. I meant it when I said I liked you. Do you not have friends where you live?" She asked lightly.

Startled by her question, Deidara thought about it. He really didn't have anyone at home that he could call his friend; he barely had anyone that he could call an acquaintance. No one really spoke to him, and he preferred it that way, seeing as the only other option that was ever presented was hatred and scorn. So, to answer her question, he shook his head, and muttered a tiny 'No'.

Sakura's eyes widened with his answer. She didn't actually expect him to say no, she thought he was just a shy boy. Now that she thought about it, the reactions he had to the things she said should have told her from the beginning that he wasn't well liked. Sakura felt stupid. She mentally smacked herself, _'We made a pretty big mistake, huh?' _Yes, she agreed silently with Inner Sakura, yes we did.

After giving Deidara's hand a slight squeeze, she smiled at him and said that she would be his friend, if he wanted that, and was promptly cut off by another tackle-hug.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

After their hug, they went and explored Konoha. Sakura showed Deidara everything, from the Ichiraku ramen where they had lunch, to the great Hokage tower. They went to the parks, the markets, everything. The sun was almost gone by the time they were finished for the day.

They talked and laughed, played and just had fun as only children could. Deidara talked about his art, and they had many arguments on what true art really was. Although they didn't agree at times, they still had many things in common. Deidara couldn't be happier than he was, and he was sad to find the day ending. During the time he was with her, he soon found out that while Sakura was a year younger then him, you could only tell by body. She was extremely mature for her age and very intelligent for a seven year old. Sighing, he knew he had to be back at the hotel by nightfall, but he didn't want to leave so soon.

Sakura saw Deidara's sad look towards the setting sun, and felt herself sad as well. After giving her head a shake, she knew that she would see him again tomorrow, and felt much, much better.

"It's getting late, Deidara-kun, I have to be home before nightfall. I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked hopefully, a smile on her face.

"Same here, I have to be back at the hotel soon, yeah. Meet at Ichiraku tomorrow morning?" Deidara agreed happily.

"Alright, see you tomorrow!" Sakura gave him a quick hug, and with one quick look over her shoulder, disappeared into the throng of people.

As he watched her leave, Deidara was very glad indeed that he had come here. Smiling, he turned around and ran to hotel, afraid he might be late.

As soon as the sun went down, Deidara burst through the door of the hotel. The lead ANBU looked at him for a few minutes before going back to doing whatever he was doing.

Relieved, Deidara went to his room, changed into his fluffy white pyjamas, and lay down on his bed. He closed his eyes, and the last thoughts he had before drifting off to sleep were of a certain pink-haired girl.

TBC.

A/N: And there you have it, the first chapter of You Found Me. Good? Bad? Horrifyingly terrible? Something that you wish you could throw in the garbage can, douse in gasoline, light on fire, and throw it into the deepest pit on earth? Lemme know!

Translations:

Gomen – sorry

Konoha – Leaf village

Iwa – stone village

-chan – suffix on the end of a girl that you like, or young boys name.

-kun – suffix for the end of a boys name


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back!! Thank you for the wonderful reviews!! I just about had a heart attack when I saw that someone actually reviewed, but then I remembered that having a heart attack is probably a bad thing, so I settled with crying tears of joy -blows into tissue- Thank you! Zozo-chan, Deidara is 9 years old and Sakura is 8. I know that in the actual series Deidara is 4 years older than her, but I changed it a little bit to fit. And Iridescent Rain, The characters are a little bit different because they are still kids, and Deidara gets cockier and more Deidara-like as he gets older. Anyways, enjoy!

**Chapter: 2**

Tonight is the last night of Deidara's stay in Konoha, and he wished it had never come. He had never really had a home in Iwa, and he didn't have anyone to call his friend. Now that he had finally found one in Sakura, he found that he didn't want that bond to break, that it was killing him inside to know that tomorrow morning he may never see his best, and first, friend ever again. The friendship they had was strong, far stronger than anyone thought could ever happen within six weeks, and it was a rare sight to see one of them without the other.

Deidara tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep, remembering the day after their fateful encounter...

_**~Flashback~**_

_Deidara was nervous. He had met Sakura yesterday, and he was scared that she had changed her mind about him, that she had gone back to her old friends and abandoned him, like all the rest. He shoook his head, and opened the door of his hotel, and closed it behind him, walking in the direction of the Ichiraku ramen place, where they had planned to meet. Hoping she would be there, but also scared that she wouldn't, he walked at a slow pace. Why was she his friend anyways? He was a monster. Sighing, he dismissed that thought from his mind, and sped up a little bit._

_When he was almost to the restaurant, he saw her sitting on one of the stools, chatting and laughing with the cook. He bit his lip, and nervously fiddled with the end of his shirt. Gathering his courage, he walked into the little shop, and smiled as Sakura turned her head at the noise that he made. A bright smile lit up her face, and all of his nervousness washed away at the sight of her. She wouldn't abandon him._

_Sakura gave him a hug, and they ordered some ramen for lunch. They laughed and talked as they ate, and Deidara felt truely content for the first time in a long time. After eating, he and Sakura took off for another adventure. Smiling, Deidara realised that he didn't care why she was his friend, just that she was, and he knew he would do anything for her friendship._

_**~End Flashback~**_

Deidara smiled at the memory, knowing that on that day, Sakura had truely gained his trust, without even knowing what she had done. That day was the day that he had started to change. He no longer thought that he didn't belong anywhere, that no one wanted him. He still thought the world was a cruel place, but that there were people in it that were different, people like Sakura.

He got lost in his thoughts again, back to the time when he had earned Sakura's trust in return...

_**~Flashback~**_

_Deidara smiled as he neared the park that he and Sakura were meeting that morning. He walked with a bounce in his step, excitement radiating from his very person, happier than he could ever remember being. It was two weeks after he and Sakura had first met, and the two had become inseperable over the past 14 days. _

_The blonde-haired boy was almost at the park when he heard a quiet, sobbing noise. Startled, he looked around to try and find where it was cooming from. Finally, he spotted whomever it was sitting on the bench across the park from him. Frowning, he decided to go and see what was wrong or if he could help. When he got close enough to the bench to see who it was, Deidara froze, eyes widening in shock and disbelief._

_Sakura._

_He was beside her in an instant, and held her, whispering comforting words to her. He was stunned at how sad and upset she was. He had always thought she was this strong, impenitrateable wall, that nothing anyone said would hurt her. Deidara realised that he was wrong, that she was human, and couldn't be strong all the time. _

_So, he held her, for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. Finally, after she had calmed down a little bit, he asked her what was wrong, why she was crying._

"_N-Nothing's wrong, D-Deidara-kun." Stuttered Sakura, stifling a sob as she spoke. Deidara sighed and tried again._

"_Tell me what's wrong, Sakura-chan, yeah." He said softly to her, his tone practically begging her to talk to him, to stop crying and smile again. He loved her smile. Even when she didn't respond, he said nothing, and let her tell him on her own time._

_Sakura turned her head away from him, sniffling away, and trying, but failing, to blink back tears. She stopped trying to hold it in, and started to sob again. After a few minutes of hysterical sobbing, she slowly started to calm herself, and looked back at Deidara, ready to speak._

"_W-Well," She started, her voice throaty from crying, "I was sitting on one of the swings, waiting for you to come, when Keigo and Haru appeared." Deidara stiffened, and his eyes narrowed at the mention of the two boys. "They asked me if I was still hanging around you, and when I said yes, they started to yell at me, and told me that no one liked me, that I was nothing but a big forehead, that I was ugly, that I was nothing, and that I wouldn't get anywhere…"_

_Deidara was angry. He was angry at those idiots for hurting Sakura like this, for telling her lies. But most importantly he was angry with himself, because he knew that if Sakura hadn't protected him that day, this would never have happened._

"… _This is my fault, yeah." Deidara said at last, guilty for his part in her sadness. "They said those things because you're friends with me… I'm so sorry, Sakura-chan, yeah."_

_Sakura looked alarmed, and a little bit saddened, at his words. Her nose crinkled, like it did when she didn't agree with something he said, or when she was thinking hard._

"_No, it is not your fault." She said firmly, her eyes regaining their old fire." I chose to be friends with you, and if those are the people they really are, I'm glad I chose you over them." She argued, smiling at him through her tears. _

_Deidara smiled at her, said a small, but sincere 'thank you', and hugged her._

"_Besides," He said, bringing a hand up to brush away her bangs. "Your big forehead is who you are. It makes it look like there's more in there than there is." He said teasingly._

_She giggled, and hit his arm. "Thanks, moron."_

_He smiled back at her, just happy that he was able to make her laugh…_

_**~End Flashback~**_

After that day, Sakura trusted Deidara with everything. Her secrets, her feelings, everything. In the short time they had been together, they had become closer than some people do their entire lives.

It was around midnight by now, and he still couldn't get to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Sakura, her laugh, her smile, her face...

He remembered one day when they got hungry after a day of adventure and decided to eat at the dango shop. Deidara didn't know who or what started it, but once they were done eating they had an epic battle with the remaining sticks. He remembered the lunches they had almost everyday at Ichiraku ramen, and how the cook already knew them by name. He smiled at the memory of Sakura paying, while he laughed at her, waving his bright neon orange bracelet in her face, only for her fist to be aquainted with his skull.

Deidara sighed at the memories, knowing that he would never forget them, that they may fade in his mind, but never will he forget.

He brought his hand up to fiddle with the ring that hung around his neck on a silver chain. He grasped it, and thought back to where it had come from...

_**~Flashback~**_

_Two days before Deidara had to leave, he and Sakura were up on the Hokage monument, sitting on the Yondaime's gigantic head. They were watching the sunset, silence between the two of them. They both knew that tomorrow would be their last day together, and that they may never see each other again._

_Sakura sighed, and looked over at Deidara. He had changed, since they became friends. He was more open, and outgoing, and he wasn't shy around her anymore. Deidara had become far more confident in himself, and for that, she was happy. She smiled as she thought about the changes in him, and she knew that he meant more to her than anyone ever had._

_She blushed as that thought went through her mind. He meant more to her than just a friend, he was her first crush. While Sakura knew it was stupid to like him, she couldn't help herself, and she never acted on it._

"_Are you ok, yeah?" The sound of his concerned voice immediately snapped her out of those thoughts._

"_O-Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She asked, stuttering, embarrassed by her thoughts._

"_Well," He started, "your face went red and I thought you might be sick or something, yeah…" As he spoke, Sakura's face only got more and more flushed, and a worried frown formed on his face as he watched her._

"_Oh, well, it's ok, I'm not sick or anything, it must be the wind." She finished lamely. __He nodded at her, not really believing what she said, but understood that she wouldn't tell him._

"_Sakura-chan, I was thinking… Because I'm leaving soon, I was thinking we could get something for each other… You know, to remember each other, yeah…" He spoke nervously, nervous that she wouldn't want to. "But, only if you want to, yeah, I mean, we don't have -"_

"_Yes." She cut him off. "Of course we can! That's a great idea, Deidara-kun! I was actually thinking of something like that… what do you have in mind?" She asked excitedly, smiling at his sweetness, her heart beating a little bit faster._

_Deidara smiled, trying to think of what to get her. They started brainstorming, and decided it was best if they got each other the same sort of thing, and that they should buy them together the next day, so that they didn't get something that the other wouldn't like._

_Eventually they settled on getting each other an oversized ring that hung on a chain around their necks. They thought that if it was too small, it would easily be lost, and that it would break easier._

_It was Sakura who came up with the ring idea, but it was Deidara who thought of getting them oversized, and to get a chain to hang them from, so that they could wear them as necklaces._

"_Great!" Exclaimed Sakura, smiling brightly, obviously excited. "We'll get them tomorrow, okay?"_

"_Yeah," He smirked, "Just make sure to be there on time this time, okay? I don't want to have to wait for three hours for you again, yeah."_

_Sakura scowled. One time she's late, one time! And he goes on about it forever. She rolled her eyes, _**'How dare he!'** _raged inner Sakura, while she silently agreed with her. Then her scowl turned into a prominent smirk._

"_Heh, just make sure you don't eat the merchandise again."_

_Deidara's smirk instantly vanished off his face. One day, about three weeks into his visit, they were at the marketplace, looking at some nice jewellery. He had picked up a relatively cheap metal chain bracelet, and the hand on his mouth ended up eating it. When the merchant who was selling it asked where it had gone, Deidara had blushed a bright red, and stuttered out that his hands at eaten it. He had to pay for it, and had spent the rest of the day thoroughly embarrassed, and Sakura had teased him mercilessly for a few days about it._

_He growled playfully at her, and tackled her to the side, tickling her mercilessly. She giggled and begged him to stop, wiggling and struggling the whole time. __Soon, Deidara got tired of tickling her, and decided to just collapse on top of her, his face in her neck. Sakura's face lit up, burning a bright red, a big smile spreading over her face, and she was suddenly very happy that he couldn't see her head. Her heart did a little flip flop as she put her hands on his back._

"_I don't want to go, yeah." He whispered sadly into her neck._

"_I don't want you to leave, either." She murmured, unhappy. "Don't worry though," her voice gained got a little lighter. "we'll see each other again, I know we will."_

_Deidara smiled at her optimism. "We will. I promise we will, yeah."_

_His heart was beating so fast it felt like his chest was going to rip open, and the fluttering in his stomache was overwhelming. Smiling, he realised he didn't dislike the feeling, and was happier than he ever has been._

_**~End Flashback~**_

Deidara and Sakura had gone out the next day, meeting at Ichiraku for lunch as usual, and then went off to get each other their gifts.

For Deidara, it was tough. He didn't see anything that he thought she would like, and instead looked for something that reminded him of himself. After all, it was all about remembering each other, right? So, he had chosen a silver ring that had a bird all the way around it. The bird was the ring, and its body stretched out and around, so that the open beak touched its own tail. To go along with it, he chose a simple silver chain.

Sakura, however, took even longer. She chose a simple silver band, and went to somewhere else to get it engraved and modified to her liking. First, she had the engraver mould the band into the shape of interlocking cherry blossoms, then she had the words 'Don't forget' engraved onto them, as well as her initials. She also chose a simple silver chain to go along with it.

He fingered that necklace now, as he though about her. He knew he had changed in the month and a half since meeting her. He became more open, funny, sarcastic and all around a better person. He wanted to be with her right now, be her friend, and stay with her for as long as he lived. His heart fluttered and tightened again, only this time it didn't feel warm and good. It felt cold, and downright terrible.

Finally, after what was probably hours of thinking, he drifted off thinking of her, her ring still in clasped in his hand.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

As the sun rose on the horizon, Deidara stood with his classmates and the ANBU at the gates of Konoha. Soon, they would be heading off back to Iwa, an agonizingly boring full four days of walking ahead of him. He already missed Sakura, and wondered what she was doing now. _'Probably still sleeping, yeah.' _He thought to himself, sighing.

He sighed, and grasped the ring and chain in his pocket. He found it easier to keep in his pocket than around his neck, without attracting the attention of everyone, and he would like to keep it that way.

Suddenly, he felt arms around his shoulders, as he was tackled to the ground. Seeing as he was at the back of the group, not many of them noticed, and those who did, pretended that they didn't.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing here, yeah?" he asked, stunned and pinned to the floor by her weight on his back.

"I wanted to say goodbye." She said, sadly, tears coming to her eyes.

Deidara nodded, his mouth twisting into a frown, telling her not to cry. She nodded, and her eyes cleared.

"Now, Why don't you let me up, yeah?" He asked smirking. Sakura's eyes widened before she bolted off of him, apologizing.

"It's ok, Sakura-chan, you don't have to apologize. It's _me_ after all." He finished, and winked at her, his smirk still plastered on his face. Just as Sakura was about to ask why the heck he was smirking, she found her answer when he started tickling her mercilessly.

"Deidara-kun! Stop it!" She yelled happily. He replied by one of the tongues on his hands licking her face, leaving a trail of saliva behind.

"Eeeewww!! Deidara!" She said sternly, hoping he would stop, only for him to refuse.

He stopped after a few minutes, and quickly enveloped her in a tight hug. They stood there for a few minutes, until the lead ANBU interrupted their moment, saying it was time to go.

As Deidara pulled away from her, Sakura held him tight, and he looked down at her to tell her he had to leave, when she tilted her face upwards, doing something that Deidara would remember forever.

She kissed him.

While it was a brief, ten second kiss, it was the best ten seconds of both Deidara's and Sakura's short lives. It was sloppy and inexperienced, their lips barely touching, but it was still amazing.

When she pulled away, blushing heavily, he went back and pecked her, again messily, and smiled at her, pulling out of her grip completely.

She watched him as he walked away with his group, through the giant gates of Konoha, and out into the forest of the fire country. She felt a warmth on her face, and realised that she was crying again.

"Until we meet again, Deidara-kun." She whispered to the wind, her hand clasped around the ring. "Goodbye."

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Deidara didn't look behind him as he walked away, knowing it would hurt too much to watch as she disappeared. The feeling of her lips was still against his, and it made him blush, a smile spreading across his face.

He looked up into the new sky, and promised himself they would meet again.

"Goodbye, Sakura-chan, yeah."

TBC.

A/N: Sorry that this chapter is a bit short, it felt like a good time to end it. Now, I won't go into Deidara's life very much from this point on. That is saved for later on. The next chapter will be the time skip to just before the rescue Gaara mission. I have to re-watch the whole thing, just to make sure I don't miss any of the more important details. Until then, Sayonara (Goodbye)!!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry for the longish wait! I was away for the last week or so and didn't have the time to work on this. Anyways, I hope you like it!

**Chapter 3**

The chirp of birds could be heard all throughout the village as the sun peaked over the horizon, starting a new day.

Sakura groaned as she slowly got up, woken by the rays of sun coming in through her bedroom window. She sleepily made her way to the bathroom, getting ready for the day ahead of her.

Once she had finished taking a shower, getting dressed and eating breakfast, she looked to the clock. She was supposed to meet her team at their bridge in a half an hour, and then it was off to the Hokage tower for a new mission. She knew that her teacher, Tsunade, was likely to give them an easy mission, and knowing Naruto, he was going to throw a fit. She sighed, and knew that she was going to be the one to beat him down before her shishou did it first.

Just as she was about to leave, Sakura had that nagging feeling that something was missing. She frowned, and checked over herself and her belongings, seeing that everything was there, except…

"Oh!" She exclaimed, smacking her forehead. "I almost forgot it!"

Whizzing back to her room, she went to her dresser, where there was a small, simple red box sitting on the dark wood. Opening it, Sakura lifted out a silver ring, designed to look like a flying bird, hanging on a chain. The jewellery looked many years old, dented in a few places from wearing it so often. However, it shone brightly, and anyone with a brain would know that this necklace meant a lot to Sakura. The pink-haired medic fastened the chain around her neck, and hurried out of her small apartment, throwing a goodbye over her shoulder to her mother before she left.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Sighing, Sakura tapped a foot on the hard wooden floor and rolled her eyes at Naruto's idiotic reasoning. As she had expected, Tsunade had decided to give them an easier C-rank mission, considering Naruto had just come back from training and had been out of commission. Of course, Naruto wouldn't accept a C-rank mission, and had gone ballistic, demanding something more challenging.

"But Tsunade-baa-" Sakura literally cut him off by putting him in a chokehold.

"Baka, don't insult shishou, you don't know how truly scary she can be…" She shuddered as she trailed off, her mind bringing back terrifying images of training with her shishou. Naruto, as usual, took no notice of what she had said, and continued to spout random insults at their Hokage's choice of mission.

Their comical banter was interrupted, however, when the doors burst open and a panicking Code-Breaker dashed into the room.

"Hokage-sama! There has been an emergency!" Tsunade's mood immediately switched from annoyed to alarmed and serious. The dark-haired code-breaker ran through the room, stopping before the Hokage, and handed her a scroll. The blonde Hokage almost snatched the scroll from her hands, and read it intently. Sakura noticed that while she read, her eyes grew slightly wider in surprise, and then narrowed in anger. Looking up from her reading, she surveyed Sakura's team, her honey eyes softening slightly when she looked at Naruto.

"What is it?" Naruto looked curious and a little bit excited at the sudden prospect of a new mission, not seeing the way that Tsunade's eyes grew hard and sad.

"The Kazekage has been captured by the Akatsuki," she practically spat out, her eyes still on Naruto, waiting for his reaction.

All of the previous curiosity and excitement on Naruto's face disappeared, replaced by surprise and anger.

"Gaara…" He whispered, loud enough that everyone could hear, his voice growing louder. "We have to save him!"

"And we will," assured Tsunade, looking at them all with a contemplative look on her face. Sakura saw this, and knew what was coming next. "Team Kakashi, you have a new mission. You will be going to Sunagakure to investigate what happened, and then once you have found out what you can about the members who captured the Kazekage, find their trail, pursue them, and rescue Gaara!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" Sakura, Kakashi, and even Naruto responded in unison, without his usual mocking tone.

Immediately Naruto dashed out of the office window, becoming a blur at the speed he was going. His teammates did the same, rushing back to their houses and gathering their supplies as fast as possible.

As Sakura ran back to the gates to meet her team, she thought about the mission they were embarking on. She knew it would be tough; all the Akatsuki are top level shinobi, and she knew that there was a high possibility that she could be killed. Thinking back Naruto, she knew that although she may die, she would do anything and everything she could, if only for his sake. Gaara and Naruto had a tight bond, one of mutual respect and recognition. They knew the pain they had each gone through, more than anyone else could.

Looking up, Sakura saw that she had reached the gate, and that Naruto was already waiting for her. Stopping beside him, she said nothing, only watching him as he paced, waiting for Kakashi.

Finally, the Copy ninja arrived, and without even asking what had taken him so long, they immediately set off for Suna.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Deidara sighed as he waited for Sasori. That stupid brat with the purple face paint was going to make them late, and Sasori was taking his sweet time with his opponent. The blonde had gone ahead, and had even taken care of some pathetic low level, at least to him, pursuit team that had been sent out. They weren't even a struggle for the explosives expert. _'At least they let me practice my art, yeah,'_ smirking, he looked to his hand mouths.

He looked up to see that Sasori was finally almost caught up to him. He watched, bored, as his partner slowly moved to where Deidara was. Idly, the blonde fiddled with the only piece of jewellery that he owned other than his Akatsuki ring, which was another ring, fashioned to look like interlocking cherry blossoms with the words 'Don't Forget, S.H.' inscribed into the metal. It looked years old, if the weathering and blackening of the silver was any indication. Deidara never really had the time to clean it, only being able to once or twice a year. Never the less, it was still his prized possession, and just by keeping it proved that.

"Took you long enough, Sasori-Danna, yeah," Deidara said smugly. His partner hated to make people wait.

"Shut up. Let's go, we are late enough as it is," Sasori said gruffly, not even stopping for his partner.

"Hmph, I know, yeah," replied Deidara, hopping off of his clay bird to walk next to Sasori. He silently commanded his bird to follow them, holding the unconscious Kazekage in its tail.

As they walked, Deidara let his thoughts wander, and for the first time in about a week, he thought of a certain pink-haired girl. He wondered what she looked like now, and how she was. He knew that she was probably a ninja by now, and he pondered at what level she may be by now. Still a genin? Or was she chuunin? Maybe even jounin. He didn't know, and may never know. He wondered if she still thought of him from time to time, or if she even had his ring. He shook his head, as if trying to erase the questions from his mind. Wondering would do him no good, and he forced his mind to think of other things.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Sakura let out a relieved sigh as she took out her ponytail. For the past few hours, she had been working on Kankuro after he was poisoned by Sasori of the Akatsuki. After getting most of the poison out of his system, she decided to take a small break before working on an antidote to annihilate the rest of the poison. Her thoughts wandered, thinking of what had brought her here…

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

After running into a shocked and horrified Temari just a few hours after they had set off for Suna, their group of three turned to four as she joined them.

Upon arriving in Sunagakure, a ninja had met up with them and led them to the hospital. The ninja told them that Gaara's older brother, Kankuro, had taken off in a fit of anger after the two Akatsuki members. He was found soon after, defeated and poisoned. The Suna ninja solemnly told them that there wasn't anything they could do. While the flesh wounds were few and non-fatal, the poison that the weapons were drenched in was.

Temari's eyes grew wide. "What do you mean, there's nothing you can do?! I've lost one brother, I can't loose another!" her breath was short, and she looked seconds away from hyperventilating.

"Temari-san, calm down! I can probably get rid of the poison in his system," Sakura stated, confident in her medic abilities.

"You can? But, no one in Suna can, what makes you so sure?" Temari asked, sceptical about this seemingly week pink-haired ninja.

"Yes, but no one in Suna is Tsunade's apprentice."

Surprised, Temari just nodded. She didn't know Sakura was the Hokage's apprentice. Shit, the Hokage is the greatest medic of all time. Upon realising this, hope settled in Temari's eyes, and she desperately pleaded to whatever was out there that Sakura had gained her masters medical abilities.

After a few minutes of running, they finally made it to the Suna hospital.

Dashing inside, Sakura only got halfway to her patients bedside before she heard a startled gasp from behind her followed by a war cry. Turning her head, she watched in confusion as an elder accused Kakashi of being some famed Konoha ninja, the White Fang or something, and attacked him. Being the wonderful student he is, Naruto protected his sensei and got into a battle stance.

"Wait, sister. While he may look like the White Fang, he is not," another elder claimed, putting a hand on his so-called sister. The aforementioned elder took a closer look at Kakashi before chuckling.

"I knew that, I was just testing you."

Everyone in the room sweat dropped and stared at her in annoyed disbelief, before Kankuro started seizing in his bed.

Snapping back to why she was there, Sakura ran to Kankuro, and did a brief medical check up on him, determining his condition with her examination and the information that the other nurses had gathered.

Slipping into 'medic mode', as she liked to call it, she started to order around the nurses, telling them what to get her and how to make the liquid that she needed to extract the poison.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts as a medic arrived to show her the greenhouses. Putting her hair back into its ponytail, she quickly followed and in no time at all they had arrived at their destination.

Although it was a small greenhouse with very few of the things she needed, she quickly found what she required to make the antidote, surprised to see that she had enough to make three. _'Good, this means that whoever fights Sasori will have an antidote.'_ Each antidote only lasted for three minutes, but Sakura figured that would have to be enough. She pocketed the extra two after she had put them in syringes, and took the other one for Kankuro to drink.

Leaving the greenhouses, she made her way back to the hospital room where her patient lay. Holding up the glass to his mouth to drink, she almost forced it down his throat while he gagged repeatedly over the taste and texture of it.

"There you go," the pink-haired medic said when he finished drinking. "There shouldn't be any more poison left after that, so just lay down and rest until the trembling stops." She told him sternly, not wishing to have to heal him again.

"We have to go after those Akatsuki bastards now! We have to rescue Gaara!" shouted Naruto, who had waited in the room. Sakura and Kakashi looked at each other, and she rolled her eyes at his antics, while Kakashi just sighed.

"We will, Naruto. But we need to rest for the night, and go after them tomorrow. Sakura has drained her chakra healing Kankuro, and we are all tired from travelling here. We must be at one hundred percent for the battles to come," reluctantly, Naruto agreed to what Kakashi said.

"Alright, we already have rooms set up for you. I'll send for someone to show you to them," Temari said kindly, happy that her brother was alive.

They nodded, and didn't have to wait long before a ninja came and showed them to their rooms, which were all beside each other.

As soon as Sakura got to her room, she took a nice, long shower in her adjoining bathroom. She showered mechanically, thinking about the opponents that she was going to face tomorrow. She already knew that one of the shinobi was Sasori, a missing ninja of Suna, who fought with puppets. The other one was a problem, however. The sand shinobi weren't able to tell her much about him; it had been a mostly aerial battle and they weren't able to see what was happening very well. What they did tell her was disturbing, to say the least. According to them, he had long, blonde hair and fought with explosives. He could make them come to life, controlling them to do his bidding before he made them explode. The most disturbing thing was that he took on the Kazekage by himself, without his partner, and had won, nearly destroying the entire village of Suna.

Sakura shuddered, not knowing which one she'd rather face. Sasori, the one who nearly killed Kankuro and is an infamous shinobi who has killed hundreds of people, or his partner, who kidnapped Gaara and almost destroyed all of Suna by himself.

Sighing, Sakura stepped out of the shower, erasing her mind of these troubling thoughts. She didn't need them, she would find out what was to happen soon enough. Picking up a towel and wrapping it around herself, Sakura looked over towards her necklace. Smiling, she thought of him. Sakura wondered what had happened to him, and how he had changed. She wondered if he was still the sweet, kind little boy she once knew, or if shinobi life had hardened him. Was he a chuunin now? She didn't know, and probably never would. She had accepted long ago that she may never have an answer to her questions, but she couldn't help but think of them from time to time. He would always hold a special section of her heart.

Months after he had left, her ex-friends Keigo and Haru still picked on her, and without Deidara, she had no one to turn to. One day, while crying on the same bench as when Deidara had found her, another blonde with blue eyes had helped her out. Ino. After a while, the two had become close friends, although no where near as close as she and Deidara had been. Soon, Sakura turned her attentions to Sasuke in an attempt to get over Deidara. She had convinced herself that she loved Sasuke, and Sakura had driven a wedge between Ino and her. She now realised how stupid she had been.

With Sasuke, Sakura always told everyone that she wanted Sasuke to be her first kiss, and she told everyone that he was her first crush, all to impress him, and to fool herself. What she felt for Sasuke in those days was petty, and she really only liked him for his looks and dark mysterious aura. With Deidara, while Sakura had initially liked him for his looks, something about him drew her to him, and she fell in love with him as a whole. She loved his smirks, and they shy and cute things that he would do, while pretending that it was nothing big. Her affections for Sasuke couldn't hold a candle to what she had felt for Deidara.

However, the night that Sasuke had left, she had been telling him the truth when she said that she had loved him. Now, Sakura realised that while she loved him, she wasn't in love with him.

She sighed and told herself to stop being so depressing.

Sakura got dressed in her pyjamas and flopped onto her bed, rolling into a comfortable position. Tired from a full day of running and working on Kankuro, she fell asleep almost immediately.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

After making the correct hand signs, the entrance to their hideout slowly opened. Deidara and Sasori walked in, closing the giant boulder serving as a door behind them, resealing the entrance. On Deidara's silent command, the giant clay bird dumped the ichibi jinchuuriki in the middle of the cave.

"You're late," said a commanding voice directly in front of them.

"We got… distracted, Leader-sama. It won't happen again," Sasori explained, jumping up on his finger of the ritual statue.

"Make sure it doesn't. You captured the Ichibi, Deidara?" Pein confirmed.

"Hai, Leader-sama. It was easy," said a smirking Deidara, who followed his partner, jumping up on the statue.

A mocking chuckle came from one of the giant fingers. "It was, was it? It doesn't look that way, considering you are short an arm from the last time I saw you."

"Che. Shut up, Hidan. You try going up against an entire hidden village, attack their leader, and getting out with your head still attached to your shoulders, yeah," hissed Deidara, a snarl replacing the smirk on his face.

"Of course I would, and I'd get out of it with all of my limbs attached. Then I'd use their blood and corpses to please Jashin-sama."

"Tch, yeah ri-"

"Hidan, Deidara! That's enough," Pein interrupted them," We are about to start the ritual. Get into formation. And Zetsu, keep an eye out on our surroundings, we can't have anything interrupt us. This ritual will take about three days and three nights to complete, so concentrate."

"Hai, leader-sama," rang out the obedient voices of the Akatsuki.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

The sun was shining and white, fluffy clouds scattered across the sky.

'_What a nice day for a battle to the death,'_ Sakura thought sarcastically, rolling her eyes slightly as she walked with her teammates to the gates of Suna.

They got there quickly and with Naruto in the lead, they were almost sprinting the whole way there. Surprised, they met the old elder that had attacked Kakashi at the hospital at the gates.

"I will be accompanying you on this mission," she said simply, without even a word of greeting.

"Why? You'll only slow us down obaa-chan!" protested Naruto loudly. Chiyo looked at him, giving the blonde a death glare that could freeze hell over.

"O-Okay, sure, come along!" Chiyo's face turned kind with a smile on her face at his words.

"Before we go, Konoha has informed us that another one of your teams will meet us at the Akatsuki hideout. Team Gai I believe," Naruto smiled, thinking of fuzzy brows and Neji, before jumping off into the desert, his team following.

Chiyo was able to keep up with them far better than any of them had expected. She wasn't breathing hard and it looked easy for her, which was amazing for someone of her age.

Naruto, of course, was going far faster then any of them, and they had to keep reminding him to slow down. He did so, with great reluctance and anger, only slowed by the knowledge that there would be epic battles ahead of him, and he needed his full strength to save Gaara.

Stopping for the night, they rested and gathered their energy. Unsurprisingly, Naruto vehemently protested to this, only agreeing when he saw that Sakura and even Kakashi himself were tired, and that Chiyo was exhausted. Grumbling in unhappiness, he lay down and slept.

Once dawn broke, they were up and off again at the insistence of Naruto, only stopping for the occasional break when they absolutely needed it.

While they were running through a small clearing in the sparsely populated woods, a startling familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Ahh, Naruto-kun, Kakashi-san. It's nice to see you again."

They all stopped, staring defensively at the cloaked man not even 30 feet ahead of them.

Sakura stared at him, searching her extensive memory for any clues as to who he was. She looked to his hair and his face, seeing the resemblance to another certain black-haired Uchiha. Then it hit her, the man in front of them was Uchiha Itachi. _'He is the one hunting down Naruto! He's the reason Sasuke left! All of it is his fault!'_ She was getting angrier by the minute, and Itachi didn't help one bit when his red eyes landed on her.

"And you must be Haruno Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said politely, as if they were meeting for a cup of tea, instead of on the battlefield.

Sakura glared in response.

"Don't look into his eyes," Kakashi warned. "Looking into them for even a millisecond will cause you to be trapped in his genjutsu, escape is not an option."

They all nodded, opting to look to his feet instead of his face. Getting into battle positions, Naruto and Kakashi ran forward, ready to meet Itachi in battle…

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

"Itachi, Kisame," Pein began, "who is here?"

A few minutes ago, Zetsu had informed them that there were two teams of ninja in their surroundings. Pein had ordered Itachi and Kisame to distract him with their special clones.

"A team of Konoha ninja, they don't seem too intelligent," chuckled Kisame, "I can easily distract them."

"The kyuubi jinchuuriki and his team, consisting of Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura and an elder from Suna, Chiyo Baa-Sama." Itachi stated. If he was surprised by Konoha sending the blonde jinchuuriki, he didn't show it, and neither did anyone else.

Deidara was reeling on the inside. _'Sakura?' _To say he was shocked from this revelation was an understatement. He didn't show his surprise, knowing that if he did he would be questioned extensively. The blonde never let his concentration waver from the jutsu, although his mind was going into overdrive after hearing about his pink-haired friend.

"Kill them off if you can. If you are unable to, delay them as much as possible," instructed Pein.

"Hai."

Deidara's eyes widened slightly when he heard the order from Pein to kill them. He hoped that Sakura and her team were strong enough to fend the weaker Itachi clone off. He didn't know what he would do if she was killed.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Sakura sighed, catching her breathe. _'That was way too easy,' _she thought, looking at the body of Itachi. Or, what they had thought was Itachi.

As she looked at the body, she noticed that it was not Itachi at all, but rather a Suna ninja.

"An imposter, maybe?" Suggested Chiyo. Kakashi shook his head, sighing.

"No, this was Uchiha Itachi. He had all of his techniques and his Sharingan. This must be a far greater technique than just a simple henge."

"Oh well! We defeated him, fake or not, now let's get going! We're here to rescue Gaara."

They all nodded at Naruto, and set off again.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Gaara screamed, long and painful, as the last of his bijou, and his life, was pulled from his body. He fell to the bottom of the cave, lifeless, with a quiet muffled 'thump' as he hit the cold rock floor.

"Itachi and Kisame were unable to kill them, Deidara and Sasori shall remain here to finish them off. Capture the nine tails, kill the rest."

Deidara almost groaned. That was the _last _thing that he wanted to do right now, or ever. But he knew that if he looked dejected by this it would be suspicious, so instead he agreed maliciously.

"Itachi, what is the jinchuuriki like, yeah?" Deidara asked.

The red eyed ninja looked as though he wasn't going to tell the blonde anything, which pissed him off. He opened his mouth angrily to ask again, when Pein told Itachi to tell Deidara, and promptly left.

Taking a few more seconds, just to annoy him, Itachi stared at Deidara.

"He is the one who will yell and scream, charging blindly into battle," he said, dissapearing.

"Well that was informative, yeah."

"It was enough."

'_And now, we wait.'_ Deidara sighed to himself, pulling out his straw hat and placing it on his head, his partner doing the same. He knew that some part of him was excited to see his Sakura again, to see what she had become, what she was like. But the vast majority of him just wanted to leave, to run as far away as possible. He knew that she could very well die facing them, which wasn't a thought he particularly enjoyed. As much as it hurt, he also knew that when she saw him, she would hate every bit of the person she believed he had become.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Team Kakashi arrived at the boulder in a cliff that served as the Akatsuki hideout. It wasn't long after their fight with Itachi and they were slightly tired as they stood on the water outside the cave. Naruto, of course, was jumping around and demanding they smash the boulder immediately. He had no self preservation, Sakura was positive of that. She was sure that there were likely traps, there was no way that it would be as easy to bust into the hideout of S-class criminals that easily.

"Wait, Naruto," the blonde stopped flailing to point an angry, demanding finger at Kakashi.

"Why, Kakashi-sen-"

The idiot knuckle headed ninja was cut off by the feeling of four other ninjas arriving behind them. Almost jumping out of his skin, Naruto turned around, only to be faced by four friendly faces.

"Lee! Neji! Tenten! Gai-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto, forgetting that they were going to be team Kakashi's backup. Jumping around the four new arrivals, Gai agreed to destroy the boulder.

_'Why does no one account for traps?'_ Sakura wondered, watching Gai and he uttered some speech about Youth.

"Stand back! My mighty power of youth shall bring down this offender!" Gai shouted at the giant boulder, as if it were alive.

Everyone quickly got out of his way as he backed up, bringing up a clenched fist. He started yelling, syching himself up before destroying the 'enemy' in their path. He sprinting at the boulder, throwing himself and propelling his fist forwards. Sakura rolled her eyes as his fist instead hit an invisible barrier instead of stone. She knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Kakashi looked up at the boulder, eyeing the seal that was placed on it.

"Ahhh, it seems there is a seal that is blocking you from destroying it, Gai."

"What kind of seal? My youth shall defeat it!"

Chiyo and Kakashi looked at one another, discussing just what sort of seal it was.

"Definately a five point seal," Kakashi concluded with the help of Chiyo.

"What's a five point seal, Kakashi-sensei?" A curious Naruto asked.

"A five point seal is when there are five different seals, placed around the area. To remove the barrier, we must pull off all five seals at once," said Kakashi, looking at Neji as he spoke.

Without even a nod of acknowledgement, Neji activated his byakugan and began to search the area for the seals, notifying them all of exactly where they were as he found them.

Gai nodded, a large grin sprouting on his face.

"Tenten, you will go to the one by the river." Tenten nodded. "Lee, you will go for the one in the forest!" Lee nodded furiously with a 'Hai, Gai-sensei!'. "Neji, you will go for the one by the boulder." Neji blinked in awknowledgment "And I will go for the one on the cliff, which seems like the most difficult one to get!"

Gai put his hand out, and stared at Lee. Lee put his hand on top of Gai's. Gai stared down Tenten, who looked disgusted, but put her hand in as well after some encouraging grunts from her sensei. Finally, the older green spandex wearing ninja looked to Neji, who stared him down. After a stare down contest, and a lot of grunting from Gai, Neji reluctantly put his hand in, if only to stop his sensei from further embarrassing them.

"Alright! Fight! Fight! Fight! And one more, Fight! For the power of youth!"

And at those encouraging words from Gai, all four ninja leaped off in search for their respective seals.

The remaining ninja sweat dropped, and Kakashi leaped up on the boulder, waiting for confirmation to pull it off.

After a few long minutes, all four ninja of team Gai confirmed that they had their seals, and on Gai's count of three, they pulled them off.

"Alright, Sakura, you're up!" Shouted Kakashi once he was away from the boulder.

"Ah!" Sakura backed up, pulled her fist back, and ran at full speed towards the boulder. She channelled some chakra into her fist, pulled back a little more, and drove her fist towards to boulder, smashing it to pieces.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

"Looks like they are finally here," muttered the ever impatient Sasori.

Deidara just nodded, taking a seat on the dead Kazekage's chest. He was _not_ ready for what was to come. He knew he had to fight, he had no choice. Deidara knew he would be killed by the Akatsuki if he even tried to do anything out of line.

He watched as four blurs entered the cave, criss-crossing with two ninja on each side of the entrance. He waited to the dust to clear, and first looked to the right of the cave, seeing the infamous Copy-ninja with who he presumed to be the blonde jinchuuriki. He stared at them for a few more seconds than what was necessary, not wishing to even look upon his former friend.

Deidara sighed, gathered his courage, and turned his head to look towards the left of the cave, first settling on Sasori's old grandma, Chiyo. Then he looked towards _his_ girl. _His_ Sakura. He took in her appearance, first her ninja clothing, noting she was a higher level chuunin. He noticed that her hair was still short, but she no longer had bangs that hid her forehead. Instead, she kept them out of her face with her headband, and in his opinion, it looked much better. To him, it showed that she no longer cared about her appearance much anymore, and that she was confident in herself. Her bright green eyes still held the same fiery spirit, and he was glad that hadn't changed. He looked over her physique and was curious as to why she looked so fragile. He knew that she was the one who had brought down the boulder to the entrance, and he wondered how someone so tiny could do that with seemingly little effort.

A growl to the right of the cave got his attention, and he looked over to find the blonde demon container being held back by the copy-ninja.

"Y-You! Get off of Gaara!" The increasingly angry blonde yelled towards the Akatsuki member.

Deidara looked at Sasori and smirked.

"Well Itachi was right, yeah." He saw Sakura jump slightly in the corner of his eye from his speech habit. "The one who charged blindly into battle, yelling and screaming, yeah."

His partner nodded to him. "We are going to have to apologize to Itachi-san for capturing his assignment."

"Ahh." Deidara smirked, still watching Sakura in his peripherals, watching as she grew increasingly surprised and uncomfortable. He knew that she wouldn't believe it was him, not from his speech habit, even if she thought of him.

Deidara reached for his hat with his remaining hand, making sure that the mouth in it was facing Sakura, she would have to be blind not to see it. Slowly, he pulled off his hat, and then unbuttoned the top button of his cloak. He closed his eyes for half a second, calming himself, and then look directly at Sakura, as her eyes grew wide with disbelief and utter horror.

.:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:. .:*:.

Sakura felt like screaming. She knew she recognized that voice, even though it was much deeper than what she remembered. The 'yeah' gave it all away to her. She tried to convince herself that it wasn't him, because really, it was extremely unlikely. There could be hundreds of people who talked like that for all she knew. But then everything she had told herself was crushed, then lit on fire and died as he removed his hat, purposely showing him his hand mouths. She knew it was him, even before he looked at her. She knew it was him before she looked into his eyes. She knew it, but tried in vain to convince herself otherwise. Her hopes were dashed the instant she looked into his eyes, no longer able to convince herself that he wasn't the boy from so many years ago. Her hand made its way to her neck, pulling out the ring that the boy, no, _man_ in front of her had given her years ago.

She saw his eyes widen a little bit as she lifted the ring out of her shirt. His eyes followed the ring as she layed it back down on her chest. Sakura realised how surreal this whole situation waas, and it felt like a bad dream to her.

She stared at him, noticing the changes in him. His longer hair, and he only wore half of it up now. She noticed a small part of the scope on his left eye, and wondered what it was for. She saw that he had become more masculine, but not so much that he still didn't look a little bit like a girl and the long hair wasn't helping. Sakura found that she liked it though. But most of all, she noticed that his eyes had changed. They were hard, and cold, no longer bright and happy. Deidara had lost warmth, and she felt her eyes water. Her eyes narrowed, blinking tears away, and Sakura's heart felt like it was being crushed.

He blinked, and his eyes softened a little bit towards her, gaining some warmth. She watched as his hand went into his cloak, pulling out her necklace as well. Her eyes widened, staring at the little piece of metal that meant so much.

This little exchange only took a few seconds, but Sakura knew that at least Kakashi had seen it all, and that she was definitely was going to be questioned about it later. She found she didn't care, too wrapped up with what was happening. When she left Konoha for Suna, Sakura knew that this would be unlike any other mission. However, she didn't think that it would be anything like _this_. It was almost too much for her, and she had to force herself to breathe normally.

Her mind raced as she watched Deidara and Sasori argue over art, remembering that years ago, it was her and Deidara arguing. Sakura watched as Deidara taunted Naruto, and she lost her control of her lungs. Her breath came out short and erratically, anger showing on her face. All she could do was watch as her childhood friend made a giant clay bird which swallowed Gaara. She could only stare as he climbed on his bird, his eyes never leaving hers, leaving them in the cave. Leaving _her_.

TBC

A/N: Mwaha, little cliffy here. I made it a little longer to make up for last time's shorter chapter. I hope you liked it!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Erm... Haha... Sorry for the ridiculously long wait for this chapter... I've been kinda busy over the last, year or so... Over the time, I have almost completely forgotten where this was going. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be great :)! I lost inspiration to write this or anything else, so I've been putting this off for quite some time... Anyways! I'm going to skip most of the fight scenes here seeing as everyone knows what happens in them anyways. This chapter might not be up to my normal standards, and I am sorry for that. Off to the new chapter (:

**Chapter 4**

Sakura tried to forget what she had just seen. She tried to calm her breathing, tried to concentrate on what was happening outside of her mind, she really did. However, seeing Deidara again, like _this_ tore her mind apart.

Sakura was, by nature, a very caring person. Although she didn't show it that often, choosing to cover it up with a strong persona, she really was caring. Although slightly dulled, her feelings for Deidara never really passed, and she always had a soft spot in her heart for him. After seeing this, that little part of her heart felt like it was tearing itself into tiny pieces. She couldn't bring herself to concentrate on reality, and only partially knew what was going on.

She knew that Naruto chased after Deidara, _her _Deidara, after he had flown off. She knew that Kakashi had gone with him, and she knew that he gave her a stern, almost curious look before leaving. She knew that she was now alone with a member of the Akatsuki, with only a little old lady to help her. However, her mind barely registered these facts, still too consumed with sadness.

'_**Snap out of it, Sakura!' **_Shouted Inner-Sakura. In her mind, her inner self gave her a nice, big slap.

Shaking her head, Sakura came out of her stupor, realizing the danger she was in and how idiotic she was to just stand there like a silly academy student. She knew better than that. She thanked inner Sakura, and banished all thoughts of her blonde-haired 'friend', as she prepared to fight for her life...

.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.

Deidara flew as fast as he could out of that cave, as far as possible away from Sakura, away from her pleading looks. He couldn't stand the way she looked at him. He had to get out of there as fast as possible, and so he flew off, taking the dead jinchuuriki with him, knowing the kyuubi brat would follow.

Unfortunately for him, the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi followed as well. This unnerved him greatly, because now it was only Sakura and an old lady fighting his master, Sasori. He knew how strong his partner was, and although he'd never show it, he was deeply afraid for Sakura's life. He had never really been close with Sasori; they were partners and nothing more.

Sakura, however, had been his only real friend in life. She was the only one to truly accept him for who he was, and didn't care about the mouths in his palms. The Akatsuki cared, but only because it gave him, and by extent them, a great amount of power. Sakura had only ever cared for him, because of him. Because of his personality, because of the person that he was, not because of any great gift of power that he had.

Snapping out of his inner thoughts, Deidara noticed that the Copy Ninja was catching up, and if he wanted to capture the kyuubi, he had to do it soon.

'_I have a job to do here, no matter how much I wish I didn't have to do this.' _And with that, Deidara began to plan Naruto's demise...

.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.

Sakura stood, exhausted, clutching her still smarting side. She had been stabbed by Sasori's poisoned sword during the battle, however she had managed to heal it and used the last of the antidote she had made. She didn't want to use it, for Chiyo-baa-sama also had injuries, but the old elder insisted that Sakura use it. In the end, she had reluctantly agreed.

Looking at Sasori's dead body, Sakura was almost amazed that they had won the fight. It was by far the most intense and life threatening battle Sakura had ever been in, and she had made it out alive. Barely.

Deidara had managed to pop into her mind on a few occasions, thankfully when her mind wasn't needed as much and she could afford to let him into her thoughts. She didn't like it, though. She banished the thought of him instantly every time it went into her head, but he was a very persistent thought, that Deidara.

Sighing, Sakura reminded herself that there were more important things right now to deal with. Walking, well, limping over to Chiyo, Sakura helped her to stand.

"Are you sure you're alright, Baa-sama?" Asked Sakura, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine." The elderly woman replied, brushing off her injuries.

'_We really should go after Naruto and Kakashi, to make sure they're alright...' _ Sakura thought. She really didn't want to, though. She knew that either way the battle had turned out, she wouldn't like it. Sakura was terrified to find out what had happened during their fight, but she knew she had to go after them.

With a sigh, Sakura put one arm around Chiyo, and they started off where Naruto and Kakashi had left.

'_Please be alright..' _ But even Sakura didn't know who she was thinking of...

.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.

Deidara cursed. Loudly. He was not happy. In fact, he was far from happy. His plans had gone totally and completely down the drain. He never was one for planning, but this was just ridiculous. He blamed Sakura for it. She seemed to pop into his head at the least opportune moments and completely distract him from his goal. Currently, he was hiding in the trees above ground, away from the ninja that had beaten him down time after time.

Too late he realized that cursing was probably a bad idea, seeing as now his enemies knew where he was. Cursing again, albeit quieter than before, he moved to a different location, away from the leaf ninja.

Assessing the situation, Deidara realized it was pretty hopeless for him. He was down an arm, exhausted, and low on clay. The only way for him to stay alive was to escape. The blonde-haired Akatsuki sat, contemplating how to escape his current predicament, when suddenly he felt a large weight on his back.

'_Well, isn't this lovely, yeah.' _He thought just before his body plummeted to the earth, causing quite a bit more damage to his body, as well as being rather painful.

Groaning, he lifted himself into a sitting position, glaring at his two rivals. He threw a smirk on his face, licking the blood off of his lips.

"That hurt, yeah." Exclaimed Deidara, grumbling to himself. He sat there, trying to think of a way to get out of this hole he had dug himself into, but nothing came to mind. _'Damnit,' _he thought, _'how can I get away?'_

Just then, Deidara saw a flash of pink and red coming from the trees behind the konoha ninja's, and the fist that belonged to this pink blur came flying straight into his pretty face. He felt himself fly a couple of meters before skidding on the ground, hard. Deidara's flight stopped abruptly when a kindly tree stopped him. With his face.

Cursing, Deidara felt like his face had turned into a punching bag. _'Why the face? Why is it always the face?'_. Unfortunately for him, his troubles weren't over yet. He hadn't picked himself off the ground this time, finding it pointless seeing as he would probably be knocked over again at the first opportunity, and yet he found himself on his feet. Sort of. How is this possible, one might ask. Well, one pink haired kunoichi was responsible for that.

Sakura had him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him off the ground and bringing him eye level to her. Of course, Deidara was considerably taller than her, so he was somewhere between hanging and standing in front of her.

"I didn't believe it.." Sakura whispered, her head down, tears streaming from her hidden eyes. "I couldn't believe it was you, Deidara." The pink-haired girl looked up suddenly, staring straight into Deidara's eyes. "Why are you here? Why is this happening, Deidara? Why!"

After hearing no reply, Sakura punched the Blonde-haired Akatsuki again, this time in the chest. She lowered her head again, her hair covering here eyes.

"I hate you..." She whispered, so quiet that he almost didn't hear her.

Deidara couldn't bring himself to look at her. That was the reason he wanted to get away from that cave in the first place. The look she was giving him hurt. He wanted to tell her it wasn't what it seemed, that he wasn't really a bad guy. But that would be lying to her. He was the bad guy, it was her friend that they were after. Deidara couldn't blame her for hating him. He had become everything she was fighting against.

The bad guy.

.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:.

Sakura couldn't help herself. As soon as she saw that blonde hair and the smirk on his face, she lost control and gave Deidara a nice, big chakra filled punch to the face. She had made sure, in her anger, that she didn't put enough chakra in to kill him or break any bones, but it would leave a nice bruise.

As soon as Deidara's feet lifted off the ground, Sakura raced after him. She wasn't done with him yet. Catching up to him fairly quickly, she felt her emotions take control. She was barely aware of what was happening around her, save for what she was doing to Deidara. She heard herself speak, but couldn't control what she said. She felt herself punch him again, weakly, as if she had no strength left in her to fight.

She stood there for a few moments, just crying, when she felt the hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw it was Kakashi, looking at her curiously. He opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly a loud bang happened, shaking the forest floor beneath them.

Sakura opened her eyes, having closed and shielded them with her free arm (having still held onto Deidara) from the explosion, blinking debris from them. She coughed in the dust that the explosion had caused, waving it from her face. Looking around, she couldn't see anything, or really feel anything different around her.

That's when it hit her. She stopped breathing, eyes widening in surprise and horror.

Standing beside Deidara were two Akatsuki.

TBC

A/N: Sorry if it was a little shorter than usual, but I wanted to get this out so all of you knew that I was still alive.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: All your reviews were amazing! Thanks guys. Here's the next chapter!

**Chapter 5**

Deidara almost smirked when he felt the presences behind him. Almost. That is until he realized that the people behind him were Tobi and Zetsu. He hated Tobi, the annoying brat. Well, maybe not hate, but he definitely felt extreme dislike for the ninja. He was so annoying, always bouncing around him and saying the wrong things at the wrong time. And Zetsu just creeped the hell out of him, with his dead body eating and such. It disgusted him, to be honest. There was also another reason why he shouldn't be smirking, one that was far more important that Tobi or Zetsu.

Sakura.

He was relieved beyond belief when he found out that she was okay, and she was alive. Of course, that meant that she had defeated Sasori, which did sadden him a little. It also greatly surprised him. He knew how strong Sasori was, and it was amazing that a fragile looking girl like Sakura and an old lady could have defeated them. Sakura had grown strong, very strong. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride for her.

He was aware that conversation was happening around him, but he ignored it, choosing to instead think of a way to explain himself to Sakura, to make her see that he wasn't the person she believed he was. A plan started to formulate in his mind, a plan that although wasn't the greatest, it would have to do. He knew that she would be beyond angry with her, but at that moment, he didn't care. He would do anything to make her trust him again, but to do that, he needed time with her. His plan would give him that time, hopefully.

Now that he might lose her again, when he finally had her back with him, even if she hated him, and he felt like if he lost her... he couldn't think about it, he wouldn't let it happen.

And so, when he felt Zetsu's hand on his shoulder, followed shortly by Tobi's, he leaned over and used his teeth to bite into Sakura's gloves. It was time to take his plan into action. He could feel her surprise at what he was doing, but there was nothing she could do, before they vanished, away from the forest, far, far away.

_.:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:..:*:._

Sakura could only stare in horror at the two new arrivals on each side of Deidara. Her mouth was slightly open in shock, and her eyes were wide. Sakura felt Kakashi's hand tighten on her shoulder, pulling her back. But Sakura couldn't bring herself to move her feet, nor to let go of Deidara's shirt.

"Sakura," Kakashi whispered to her. "We have to move!" This time, Sakura managed to move her feet back, but her fist still wouldn't let go of Deidara's shirt, so she backed up as much as far away from Deidara as she could, without letting go of him.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Asked the masked Akatsuki, sounding cheerful, waving at them and everything.

Sakura looked back at Kakashi, a quizzical expression on her face. Kakashi simply shrugged at her look.

The other Akatsuki shinobi looked like a huge plant, sort of like a venus fly trap around his head. Sakura wondered if all the Akatsuki were crazy; as far as she knew, they had a giant plant man, a little kid, a human puppet, and a crazy mass murderer that killed his entire family. Sakura wondered how Deidara had managed to get into a group like this. Oh, that's right. He killed Gaara on his own and almost took out the entire village of Suna.

"We're leaving." Stated Zetsu, in an odd, dark voice. "Grab onto Deidara, Tobi." Zetsu's voice had suddenly changed, into a lighter version of his other voice. He extended his arm and placed it on Deidara's shoulder.

'_That's odd.' _Thought Sakura. Part of her was panicking. The plant-man said they were leaving, meaning they were taking Deidara with them. Part of her was relieved, because this meant that they wouldn't have kill or torture him. Another part of her didn't want him to go; it had been so long since she had seen him last. She didn't know why she cared about him anymore, seeing as he was after her best friend and wanted to kill him, but the little part of her heart that had belonged to him still cared for him.

"Okay, Zetsu!" Exclaimed the masked ninja, Tobi, excitedly grabbing onto Deidara's shoulder. Sakura wondered how he could've gotten into an organization like Akatsuki. He seemed way too cheerful to be a murderer.

Suddenly, she felt Deidara move his head, and watched him bite into her glove. She looked at him, surprised. _'What is he doing...?' _She was too confused to move her hand away, and even if she knew what was going to happen, she wouldn't have had enough time to act, for before she could blink, she felt her feet lift the ground and the forest started spinning around her. Sakura closed her eyes, feeling like she was going to be sick.

Opening her eyes, fist still clasped in Deidara's shirt, she realized she was no longer in the forest anymore.

'_Oh no...' _Sakura found herself in a huge cave, surrounded by Akatsuki members. _'Great, just great.'_

'_**How dare he?' **_Screeched Inner-Sakura, and Sakura silently agreed with her. She knew what happened; when Deidara grabbed onto her glove with his teeth, he had intended to take her with him to wherever this was. What he had planned, she had no idea. But she knew that it wouldn't be good.

"What is this?"

Sakura looked up to where the voice had come from. In the cave, there stood a giant statue, it's arms extended and hands cupped, so that the fingers stood high in the air. Sakura noticed that the statue had many eyes, but only one was opened.

The man who had spoken was shrouded in darkness, only his ringed eyes being visible and the slight outline of his body. Looking around her, Sakura noticed six shinobi standing on separate fingers, looking down on the little group of four, standing between and before the two hands.

"I expected only Deidara to return with you, Tobi, Zetsu. Why is the girl here?"

"Leader-sama," Sakura heard Deidara say, "the girl is a friend of the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, yeah. I believe that we could use her to lure him to us, so we won't have to go after him. Instead, he'll come to us, yeah."

'_So that's it then! That's why he wanted me here. As bait.' _Sakura felt anger bubbling up in her, her fists and teeth clenched and eyes on fire. She felt angry at his betrayal, not that he had really betrayed anything. After all, it was only a childhood friendship, something that he probably found silly now. She felt her free hand raise, and let her anger take over her as she swung her open hand right across Deidara's face, hard. He let his head hand there for a moment, probably in shock, before he slowly faced her. He looked surprised at her actions, his eyes widening and mouth slightly open. _'That bastard deserved it.'_

Her anger dulled a little bit, when she saw that his eyes looked sad and almost sorry for what he was doing.

"She's a feisty kunoichi, that one." Growled a voice from one of the fingers.

"Very well, Deidara." Said the leader, "Since you failed to detain the Kyuubi, we will use her to bring him to us. However, because you brought her, you will have to take her with you. The kyuubi will know she is with you, as you are the one to take her. She will wear a cloak to blend in with you, she is not to look like a hostage. We don't want any unwanted attention."

"What of her chakra, leader-sama? The girl has her master's, Tsunade-sama's, strength in her." The voice came from one of the fingers. It sounded deep and velvety. It reminded Sakura of Sasuke.

'_Maybe that's Itachi...' _She wondered.

"She will have to wear a chakra restraining bracelet around her wrist at all times. It will only be able to come off by one of the members of Akatsuki. Is this all understood, Deidara?" When Deidara nodded, Leader continued. "We will have Kakuzu restitch your arms for you, and then I will give you your next assignment."

Sakura watched as Deidara bowed to his leader. She was very bewildered right now, completely blown away that this was actually happening to her. She was glad that, at least, she would be taken by Deidara, someone she actually knew. Sort of. She guessed she didn't really know him anymore. Maybe she could get him to tell her what had lead him to this life. Sakura wasn't looking forward to having the chakra constraint on. She had no idea how she was going to get out of this, but she vowed that she wasn't about to play the good, obedient hostage. Every opportunity, every chance she saw, she would take to escape. For now, however, she knew that it was best to obey her captors. With nine SS class ninja with her, there was no way she was about to escape anytime soon. It was good for her health to play along, for now, she reasoned.

And so, when the plant-man walked up to her and slapped a thick, metal like bracelet on her wrist, she didn't complain or resist. When Tobi bounced over and handed her a bag filled with what she believed to be the Akatsuki cloak and under clothes, she silently accepted it.

"Oh, and Deidara?" Deidara looked up to Leader, "Because of Sasori's death, Tobi will be your new parter. That is all." And with that, leader and four Akatsuki members on the fingers flickered and disappeared.

The look on Deidara's face at finding out who his new partner was almost made Sakura giggle. However, her situation was looming over her like a dark cloud and it made her want to scream at Deidara and shake him and hit him.

So she did.

"How DARE you do this to me, Deidara?" She screamed at him, her fist finally unclenching from his shirt, moving to his shoulder. "After all these years, I finally see you again, and you're HERE? In the bloody Akatsuki? What happened to you?" Sakura's voice had gotten quieter and quieter as she asked her questions, calming down to a whisper. She felt her eyes tearing up again, and cursed. She would not cry in front of him. She would be strong.

"You don't understand-"

"I don't understand?" Sakura cut Deidara off, "Well then why don't you fill me in then, hmm?"

Deidara opened his mouth to respond, only to stop and close it again, looking away from her and off to the side. Sakura turned her head to look at whatever had distracted Deidara, and watched as two Akatsuki members walked over to them, and Sakura suddenly remembered where they were, and who was watching them. She didn't let go of Deidara, secretly feeling like if she did, she wouldn't be safe anymore. Well, she wasn't exactly safe right now, but she just felt... safer with Deidara.

The plant-man handed one of the men what looked like... arms? Odd. The Akatsuki came over to where Sakura and Deidara were standing, and pulled up what was left of Deidara's sleeve and held up one of the arms. He connected Deidara's arm to his shoulder, and held up one of his hands. Long string-like black strands came out of his sleeve, and stitched Deidara's arm together. Moving to the other side of Deidara, he did the same with the other arm.

"Tch." Grunted the shinobi. "Stupid. Lost both your arms, how bad can you be?"

"Hey!" Deidara grunted, obviously displeased with the other Akatsuki's mocking comments. "You try taking on an entire village and then Konoha's copy ninja and the Kyuubi not three days later, after the extraction jutsu, Kazuku, yeah."

Kazuku chose not to respond to that, and instead grunted to his partner they were leaving after giving Deidara's arms another once over check.

'_That won't work..'_ Thought Sakura. Being a medic, she knew that even though the arm was recently severed, just stitching them back together wouldn't work. There were nerves and blood veins that needed to be connected, and the bone to be healed. It was a silly thought to think that stitching it would do anything but keep it to his arm.

That was why, when Deidara moved his arm in seemingly full control over it, Sakura was shocked out of her mind.

'_What the...? How did he do that?' _To say Sakura was surprised was an understatement. Her inner medic took over and she grabbed one of Deidara's arms, looking intently at the stitches, desperately wishing she had chakra so she could run scans on it. _'This is... amazing!' _Even without her chakra, Sakura could tell just how incredible that ability is. She knew the Akatsuki was full of high level shinobi... But this was just ridiculous.

Sakura was brought out of her thoughts when Deidara grabbed her arm.

"We won't be staying here for long, yeah." He said. "Let me show you our room."

"Wait a second, _our _room?"

"Well, we can't exactly give you your own room. We need to watch you, so you don't escape." Deidara reasoned with her.

"Why can't I stay with Tobi?" Sakura said angrily. It wasn't that she didn't want to be with Deidara, because she did. Deep down, she knew she did. This confused her, after everything he's done, she still wanted to be with him. She wasn't ready for this, at all. She wanted to talk to him, but not yet. First she needed to sort out her feelings, and steel herself for the coming days. So, she covered her confusion with anger. She thought that Tobi was the next best choice seeing as he acted like a child and she doubted he'd do anything to her.

Deidara looked hurt, but she told herself she didn't care. She did, though. Tobi looked ecstatic, however, and Sakura couldn't help but smile at him.

"Hear that, Deidara-senpai? Sakura-chan wants to stay with Tobi! Oh, can she can she can she can she?" Tobi all but yelled at Deidara, bouncing all around him as he spoke. Sakura marveled at how much energy he had. Tobi was practically doing backflips over Deidara. He really was like a child.

"I guess so, yeah. The rooms are escape proof; you have to be the owner of the room to leave, yeah." Deidara sighed.

Sakura was relieved. She couldn't have her own room, but now that she's avoided awkward situations that she wasn't ready for and answers to questions she didn't want to hear right now, she was feeling alright. All things considering, that is.

"Tobi will show you to your room!" Tobi exclaimed, grabbing her arm and almost dragging her down the hall. Sakura had to job to keep up with him, but he looked like it was just a leisurely walk to him.

She never looked back to see Deidara watching her leave.

TBC

A/N: I hope that was alright. And of course, I always like reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Tobi's room was sparsely decorated, with just the bare essentials. She guessed that the members didn't spend that much time here, and were only here when they didn't have missions elsewhere. The halls of the place looked like they were carved out of a mountain, the walls were rock, the doors were rock, the rooms were rock, everything was rock. Granted, she had only seen what she guessed was the main hall, and the hall adjoining that and Tobi's room. However, Sakura already didn't like it here. It wasn't cozy, and felt very cold and lonely. She almost couldn't wait for them to get on the road and out of this cold place.

"Does Sakura-chan want the bed? Tobi can sleep on the floor!"

"Oh, um, sure. Thanks Tobi." Sakura smiled at him. She found that she liked Tobi, he was chivalrous and kind to her. Again, she wondered how a happy, kind young man like him could have gotten himself into an organization such as Akatsuki.

"Sakura-chan is very welcome! Tobi likes Sakura-chan very much!" Tobi bounced at her, and she assumed he had a smile on his face.

"Awh, why thank you Tobi. I like you too!"

Sakura asked where the washroom was, and Tobi pointed to a door in the wall to the side of the room. Sakura thanked him, and left for the washroom. Today had been a long day, and she wanted to clean up before she went to sleep. Sakura was sure she looked as awful as she felt. When she looked in the mirror, she of course, was right. Her hair was greasy and dirty, she had bags under her eyes, and her face was smeared with dirt. Her clothes were ripped and sweaty, and also covered in dirt and grime. Thankful she had something to change into, she jumped into the shower. Sakura almost cried out in glee from the wonderful sensation of the nice, warm soothing water over her tired, grimy self.

Getting out of the shower, she quickly put on the clothes that she was given earlier. Throwing them on, she was thankful that they were at least comfortable, and finished in the washroom and jumped over Tobi, who was already sleeping on the floor, and onto the bed. Sakura finally had some time to think, which she viewed as a bad thing. Her thoughts raced through her mind, thinking of Deidara and everything that happened today, of Naruto and Kakashi and Konoha and what would happen to her now.

Sakura drifted off to sleep, with thoughts of a certain blonde-haired individual on her mind, her hand clutching the necklace around her throat...

Deidara sighed. He was laying awake in bed, staring at the cold, stone ceiling. Well, what he could see of it. There were no windows in his room, nor in any other room in the cave. The blonde was still absorbing his very busy day. First, he met his childhood friend, the only one who ever treated him like he wasn't a freak or a tool. Then, he had an epic battle with Konoha's very own copy ninja and one of the loudest, not just in words, ninja he'd ever had the displeasure to meet. That battle had cost him his arm, which he had thankfully gotten back, and a nice, big punch across the face from the aforementioned friend. Then, he brought that friend, against her will, to his evil organizations hideout, made her his hostage; receiving a rather large and painful slap across the face for all his efforts.

What a day.

Deidara didn't know what to do next. He had only planned up until he had gotten her into the cave, and had hoped against hope that Leader would go along with his plan, and allow her to be left under his care. If the battle earlier with the Kyuubi brat meant anything, Deidara knew that he would come looking for her. His village may hold it off for a while, but he would come, and he would search for him.

Deidara knew that they would be careful with their trail, so that the Kyuubi brat wouldn't find them too quickly. He wanted as much time with her as possible, so he could get Sakura to see the real him, not just the person he seemed to be. He knew he wasn't the good guy, but he hoped that she would at least give him a chance, seeing as they were the best of friends as children. She still wore his necklace, even after bringing her here, and that had to mean something good. His own hand went to the ring-necklace that she had given him, and sighed again.

'_Oh well, there's nothing I can do tonight, yeah.'_ And it was true. Sakura had decided to sleep in Tobi's room, which was a proverbial slap across the face. He shouldn't be surprised that she wouldn't want to be in the same room as him, but he was. And it hurt. He may be the almighty asshole Deidara, but Sakura was special. She made him feel things that he hadn't felt in a very, very long time.

With that thought, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of butterflies, ponies, rainbows and, of course, a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

When Sakura woke in the morning, she felt like she had run a marathon in her sleep. Yawning and stretching out her tired and sore muscles, she went to the bathroom, which Tobi had showed her the night before, making sure not to wake the sprawled out Akatsuki on the floor, still fast asleep. Still feeling dirty from the day before, Sakura took full advantage of having a shower, because who knew what would happen next?

The leader said that Deidara would be getting his next mission. Did that mean that Sakura would be dragged along as well? _'Of course it does,'_ she told herself, _'wherever Deidara goes, I will have to go as well. I am his prisoner after all.'_ Sakura hoped that Kakashi and Tsunade had some sense in them, and make Naruto wait until they had a solid plan to rescue her. They would need one, seeing as they were facing some of the most powerful ninja in the world. She didn't want any of them to get hurt. Knowing Naruto, they wouldn't take long before they were out and looking for her. There were probably people out right now, searching for her whereabouts.

Sakura smiled as the warm water gushed out from the shower head. She was holding on to the hope that they would find her quickly. Sakura didn't find the idea of being a captive very pleasing.

However, a little voice in the back of her mind told her that she didn't mind being captive too much, as long as she was with Deidara. _'Shut up.' _Sakura commanded, and shook her head, her fingers reaching up to her necklace that she still wore, despite everything. But, to her dismay, the thought would not go away. She couldn't help but feel a little squeeze in her heart when she thought about him; about how she would be spending the next little while in his company. She wanted answers, and this was her opportunity to get them.

Sakura quickly finished up in the shower and herself off with a towel she found in the bathroom. She quickly put on the clothes that she was given the previous night, once again thankful that they were clean. Looking in the mirror, she took notice of the clothes that she was given, too tired to notice the night before. Everything was a plain, dull grey; the shirt, pants, everything. Her pants were baggy everywhere but the ankles and waist, and the v-neck shirt was tight and formfitting. Under the grey shirt was a mesh webbing that almost went to her collarbone. Sakura did not receive the trademark Akatsuki cloak yet, nor the straw hat or ninja shoes.

Sighing at her reflection, Sakura found a brush and quickly brushed out the knots in her hair and tied on her hitae-aite. Walking out of the bathroom and back to Tobi's room, Sakura didn't even try exploring. She knew that the Akatsuki base was probably a maze, so as to confuse intruders, and that other members could be wandering around the halls, ones that aren't as friendly as Tobi. Sakura shivered, and quickly rushed back to the room, where a nice warm bed awaited her.

When she got to Tobi's room, she found him awake and ready, mask and cloak in place.

"Did Sakura-chan have a good sleep? Tobi hopes so." He asked excitedly, bouncing towards the kunoichi.

Sakura smiled at Tobi's antics, glad to have someone like him as her overseer.

"Yes Tobi, I had a good sleep. I'm sorry for taking your bed." Sakura wasn't lying, she was sorry, although very grateful.

"That's okay! Tobi is used to it." The masked Akatsuki said with a bounce.

Tobi left to get them breakfast, bringing back a large tray full of fruits with a plate of pancakes and various juices and syrups.

"Wow!" Sakura exclaimed. "This looks delicious!" Sakura did not expect this. She was expecting something more along the lines of gruel or stale bread with some water, something more along the lines of a typical captive breakfast.

"I didn't think the Akatsuki would treat captives this well. Hell, I didn't think the Akatsuki ate like this at all!" With that, Sakura devoured her food, starving. She hadn't eaten yesterday save fro breakfast with her team. She slowed her eating at that thought. _'That was only yesterday... It feels like a century since I last saw them.'_

The rest of the morning was spent playing games with Tobi and chatting lightly. Neither mentioned the Akatsuki or life beforehand, preferring to talk about their interests. Tobi even managed to get a laugh or two out of Sakura with his silly antics.

By noon though, Sakura was feeling tense and anxious. She wanted to know what was going to happen next; where they were going, what they had to do and when.

Her questions were answered around dinnertime when Deidara burst through the door with an irritated look on his face. He stared at a slightly flustered Sakura and an excited Tobi. Sakura noticed he avoided her gaze and chose to look at Tobi instead.

"We're leaving at noon tomorrow. Be ready to leave by then, and we won't be back for quite some time." Was all he said before he disappeared out the door again.

Finally, Sakura could get out of this awful place, and according to Deidara, they'd be gone for quite some time. Good, that gives her team time to find her trail. She was disappointed deep down that Deidara hadn't stayed longer, but she knew she'd have plenty of time to question him while they were on the road.

Tobi and Sakura went to sleep some time later, Sakura on the bed and Tobi on the floor again.

Sakura woke up first again, took a shower, and by the time she got back to the room Tobi had breakfast out again. Sakura didn't have much to pack for their trip, only a brush and a few more uniforms that Tobi had given her, all in the same grey.

Tobi had also given her a cloak and straw hat, both fitting her perfectly. Tobi said they were Sasori's, because there wasn't another member her size that could give up their cloak. Sakura found this slightly morbid, having to wear the clothing of someone that she had recently murdered.

Sakura avoided wearing the hat and cloak for as long as possible, putting it off for as long as possible. Only once Deidara had come back and informed them that they were leaving did she throw on the cloak, disgusted, and put on the hat she was given. She shouldered her small pack, and followed Tobi and Deidara as they lead her through the mountain maze.

Sakura could only wonder what would happen next, but she knew it couldn't be good.

TBC

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this, and I know there isn't much DeidaraSakura goodness yet, but don't worry, it will come.


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